Easier -
Mesopotamia is the Greek word meaning "land between
the rivers." Ancient civilization developed in this
area because of the Tigris and the Euphrates
Rivers. The land was fertile, the nearby rivers
provided water, and settled farming was practiced.
These early farming communities grew to became
independent city states. In addition to developing
the first plows and irrigation canals, Mesopotamia
developed the first form of writing, mathematics,
astronomy, and complex architecture. Mesopotamians
were probably the first peoples to use the
wheel.

Harder -
Mesopotamia, called the "cradle of civilization",
was the site of early river valley settlement.
Conditions in the area led to people constructing
permanent communities, practicing sustained farming
methods, and evolving from a hunter-gatherer
society into agriculture communities. Housing
evolved into walled cities. Similar river valley
civilizations soon followed in the Indus and Nile
River regions. Today Mesopotamia is part of Iraq.
This river-valley region was the site of a series
of city-state kingdoms including Sumer, Babylon,
and Assyria, that thrived from about 5,000 B.C. to
500 B.C.

Make A Poster that Illustrates the
Inventions/Innovations in Mesopotamia.
After exploring the resources on
Mesopotamia found at the websites and the
library media center, decide what major
contributions were made by ancient
civilizations in Mesopotamia. Create an
original poster that shows those
innovations and improvements. Another good
activity is to create a model that
illustrates a specific technological
achievement. Display your project.

Create An Ancient Mesopotamia
Journal. Pretend that you are living
in ancient Mesopotamia. Imagine what your
daily life would have been. Describe your
'pretend' life in a series of journal
entries. Decide if you want to cover all
the days in a week or less frequent
stories over a longer time frame.

Was there a Hanging Gardens of
Babylon? Use the online resources and
your library to investigate what is known
and believed about this 'wonder of the
ancient world.' Then decide if you think
the gardens did exist. What evidence has
been found? Could this have been a myth or
story that was told and repeated until it
was believed to be real? You decide, then
present your ideas in a position paper,
debate presentation, or multimedia
presentation. Explain your views and back
them up with as much evidence that you
find. Explain where the facts end and
conjecture begin. What do you
believe?

Illustrate the Causes and Effects
of Cultural and Technological Changes in
Mesopotamia. To get the idea for this
project, first visit a 'beginning' concept
map at Innerconnections
Illustrating the the Nature of Sumer.
Expand this idea to encompass other
changes and innovations and their causes
and effects. The example at the website
was created using the Inspiration software
package.

Identify the Positive and Negative
Aspects of Mesopotamian Civilization.
The 'cradle of civilization' was not
necessarily all 'sunshine and roses.'
Identify the major components of their
civilization. Then identify both the
positive and negative aspects of those
developments.

Copper probably first came into use as the
earliest non-precious metal employed by the
Sumerians and Chaldeans of Mesopotamia, after they
had established their thriving cities of Sumer and
Accad, Ur, al'Ubaid and others, somewhere between
5,000 and 6,000 years ago.

Tour the mysteries of this foundational
civilization: it's life, it's words, it's gods, and
it's writing; browse through the dust and heat of
one of first cultures to inscribe for the future
the story of its existence. This website was
designed as resource for a college-level
course.

Other College Websites:

2) Ancient Western Asia and the Civilization of
Mesopotamia (Lecture Summary) by S.

In this writing assignment, the student
examines a summary of Gilgamesh. Their job is to
come up with a Mesopotamian definition of a
hero--and by extension a human being--using both
aspects of the concept.

Students decide upon the same situations faced
by Hammurabi of ancient Mesopotamia when he
established his laws. Then, they write a letter to
the editor of the Babylonian Times newspaper
stating their opinion of his decrees.

Related Lesson Plans:

2) Hammurabi and His Law Code (Mini-play) from
the Social Studies School Service